Looking at the posters of the plays Late Night Theater, Kim Van Kieu, Phung Nghi Dinh in Made in Saigon

'Made in Saigon' by journalist Pham Cong Luan brings readers back to old memories with the brand identities of consumer goods, lacquer paintings, music albums, movie posters, plays... that appeared in Saigon - Gia Dinh - Cho Lon over the past hundred years.

Books Made in Saigon - Photo: HO LAM

The drawings, labels, newspaper advertisements... in Made in Saigon help today's readers visualize the production, business, cultural and artistic activities in Saigon - Gia Dinh - Cho Lon in the past century.

Nostalgia for familiar objects

As a generation born in the early 1960s, journalist Pham Cong Luan shared that although ordinary people at that time, if they knew how to save, could still buy a two-wheeled motorbike, a refrigerator or an imported Japanese television, the household appliances of the majority of people were domestically produced, in factories located in Saigon, Cho Lon or Gia Dinh.

They are affordable, not high quality but work, have a lot of good things and get better over time due to new technology being used.

In Mr. Luan's family and many other families, from the kitchen to the living room, familiar objects are surrounded:

"Growing up, although we liked to use British Camay soap, the whole family was used to the scent of Mr. Truong Van Ben's Vietnamese soap, used to wash clothes with Viso or Net detergent, used Snow White cotton, used Snow White paint to paint doors, kept photos in Con Nai albums...

Many families displayed landscape paintings made in Cho Lon on their altars, used bronze incense burners cast from Go Vap, burned firecrackers in Xom Moi, and when sick, bought medicine from Ong Tien pharmacy in Phu Nhuan or Thoai Du Duong shop on Phung Hung street.

Wealthy families who like to support domestic products buy La Dalat cars produced by Saigon Automobile Company with 25-40% domestic content, display lacquer paintings from Me Linh company in Dakao or use wooden furniture from Phan Van Nhi shop.

Cai luong play “Kim Van Kieu” was produced by Viet Hai Records in 1969. Composers: Vien Chau, The Ha Van. Performers: Ut Tra On, Tan Tai, Phuong Lien, Thanh Tuyen - Photo: Taken from the book

And with nostalgia for familiar objects that have passed through his life, Mr. Luan wrote the Vietnamese-English bilingual book Made in Saigon .

Reading books, older generations are brought back to life with nostalgia when looking at the brands, paintings, advertisements... printed on products such as: cars, jewelry, household appliances such as: batteries, light bulbs, flashlights, thermos...;

Then there are essential foods such as: MSG, instant noodles, soy sauce; garment products, school supplies, children's toys; traditional Chinese medicine, Western medicine... to cultural products such as: lacquer paintings, handicrafts, books, music books, cai luong discs and reliefs of guild halls, mausoleums and temples in the Gia Dinh and Cho Lon areas.

And there are also symbolic images of financial activities such as banks, lotteries or logos attached to suitcases of famous hotels from the French colonial period.

Cai luong play Late Night Stage by composer Nguyen Thanh Chau (Nam Chau) includes 4 volumes released by Continental Records - Photo: Taken from the book

Email Brillant toothpaste by Leyna toothpaste company produced in the early 1970s - Photo: Taken from book

Foremost Milk Company is a multinational company that once produced the famous Ông Thọ condensed milk brand in Vietnam. In the early 1970s, Foremost Milk Company established a factory in Vietnam, using the image of a diamond as its trademark. The milk company invited artist Kim Cuong to be its advertising character - Photo: Taken from a book

Poster for the film Phung Nghi Dinh, a staged film produced by My Phuong Film Company in 1958. Actress Kim Hoang plays Dieu Thuyen.

Journalist Pham Cong Luan is the author of many famous and reprinted books such as: If I knew a hundred years was limited, The paths to childhood, The boy That Son .

Not only outstanding in the genre of essays, he is also a writer with an abundant amount of works, bringing readers many valuable monographs and memoirs about Saigon such as: Saigon - Life Stories of the Streets (5 volumes), Old Spring Newspaper Style, Saigon - Looking Back a Hundred Years , There Was a Time in Cho Lon ...

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ngam-bich-chuong-tuong-san-khau-ve-khuya-kim-van-kieu-phung-nghi-dinh-trong-made-in-sai-gon-20250625150533085.htm